Though the exact origin of dramatic literature remains somewhat obscure, it appears that both comedy and tragedy began as elements of pagan religious rituals, known as the “Eleusinian mysteries,” in ancient Greece.  Comedy probably derives from those parts of the rituals that dealt with fertility, while tragedy probably stems from those parts that dealt with purgation (i.e., cleansing) of communal evil via sacrifice, with the sacrificial victim perhaps occasionally represented by a human being.  Thus, in dealing with any comedy or tragedy that is tied to the Greek tradition, it is well to remember that the basic structure of the drama owes a large debt to these rituals.  When we think of comedies as focusing on love, we are really just restating their original focus on fertility rituals; when we think of tragedies as focusing on death, we are really just restating their original focus on sacrificial cleansing.

   Comedy and tragedy are often considered to be diametrically opposed dramatic forms in the popular imagination.  However, the two share many traits, suggesting that a revaluation of their relationship is in order.  For instance, the situation established at the beginning of most tragedies and comedies almost always involves a problem facing a community that must be worked out by the main character(s).  The problem to be worked out in a tragedy may not be of any more importance than the problem to be worked out in a comedy.  Where the two genres diverge is often in the price that must be paid by society for a resolution to the problem to be achieved.  In comedy the price to be paid is usually not as high as the price required in tragedy.  The price in tragedy usually involves death (i.e., Agamemnon) or disfiguration (i.e., Oedipus) whereas the price in comedy may be only embarrassment or emotional trauma of some sort.

   Given the close kinship of tragedy and comedy, we might also reconsider the degree of importance that we assign to them relative to one another.  Most modern readers or viewers of these dramatic forms consider tragedy to hold more importance than comedy, but we should remember that the conventionalized masks often used to represent comedy (laughing face) and tragedy (sad face) are, in fact, the same size, suggesting that the two forms deserve more equal treatment than is often afforded them.

   One reason why tragedy is often valued more highly than comedy involves the fact that Aristotle’s famous treatise on tragedy has survived to modern times, while a treatise on comedy he is believed to have composed has been lost.  Thus, we know much about the elements of tragedy—including a hero(ine) who possesses a tragic flaw that leads to his (her) ruin—but we have no similar set of Aristotelian rules outlining the elements of comedy.  Fortunately, modern critics have filled in the vacuum caused by the loss of Aristotle’s treatise on comedy, but their efforts have not yet caused comedy to be accorded an equal place on stage or, more importantly, in the popular imagination with tragedy.